Tara Thornton
| Last= | Appearances= 72 episodes (see below)| Aka=Toni| Status=Destroyed| Birth=1982 | Death=2009 (made vampire)| Age = 27| Age1 = 27| Age2 = 1| Origin=Bon Temps, Louisiana, United States of America| Profession=Fangtasia Bartender / Dancer Merlotte's Bartender (formerly) Cage Fighter (formerly)| Species=Vampire| Powers=*All Vampiric Strengths*Conjuring, Spell casting (S4)| Family= Mae (great-great-grandmother, deceased) Winnie (great-grandmother, deceased) Reverend Daniels (Stepfather) Lettie Mae Thornton (mother) Ruby Jean Reynolds (aunt) Uncle Cyrus (uncle) Lafayette Reynolds (cousin) Godric (Vampire great-grandfather) (destroyed) Eric Northman (Vampire grandfather) Nora Gainesborough (Vampire great-aunt, destroyed) Pam (Maker) Willa Burrell (Vampire aunt) Colin (Vampire brother)| Actor=Rutina Wesley Avion Baker (young) Brook Kerr (unaired pilot)}} Tara Mae Thornton is a major character in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons of True Blood. She is played by starring cast member Rutina Wesley and debuts in . Tara is a vampire. She has been Sookie Stackhouse's best friend since childhood. Tara is the daughter of Lettie Mae Daniels, the cousin of Lafayette Reynolds and the vampire progeny of Pam. Tara is a strong-willed person who has had to deal with a multitude of abuses in her life. Personality According to Alan Ball, Tara is the smartest person in Bon Temps, Louisiana, but her cynical nature, born of her abusive background, has made her extremely blunt and often confrontational with others. Tara grew up in a very abusive home with an alcoholic mother, and consequently finds it difficult to fit in with normal society or to trust people. She is very adept at reading people and constantly distances herself from others by speaking her observations candidly and plainly. As a result, she has difficulty holding down a job until she becomes a bartender at Merlotte's. She is, however, fiercely protective of her loved ones (including her best friend Sookie Stackhouse), even to a fault, often hating those who could cause them harm. Anyone who dares to insult Tara had better watch out, because she will gladly let them know exactly where they can stick their unkind words. Aside from her mom, who has caused her much trouble over the years, she doesn't take sass from anybody. Once she became a vampire, she turned hateful and fearful of her newfound powers. Though she swore she would never forgive Sookie and Lafayette, she turned her vampire life around and made space for acceptance. She is now bold and has the power to ensure no one can hurt her. Pam was even surprised when she went to slap Tara, Tara grabbed her hand and told Pam she didn't sign up for the hurt. She sticks up for her maker and friends, even if it means being shot by the new anti-vampire weapon. By season 6, finale Tara seems to have reconciled with her mother who seems to have entirely changed. Her mother acknowledged abusing Tara since the days her husband left her. Tara appears visibly affected by this and accepts her mother's offer of blood. At the start of Season 7 Tara is destroyed by a Hep V Vampire while protecting her mother. During said battle with Hep V vampire, Tara looked to have had the upper hand during the fight. Tara's fate is confirmed in Fire in the Hole as Pam states that she did in fact feel her progeny's passing. Biography Tara Thornton/Background|BackgroundTara Thornton/Season 1|Season 1Tara Thornton/Season 2|Season 2Tara Thornton/Season 3|Season 3Tara Thornton/Season 4|Season 4Tara Thornton/Season 5|Season 5Tara Thornton/Season 6|Season 6Tara Thornton/Season 7|Season 7In Jesus Gonna Be Here, Tara is seen protecting her mother from the infected vampire attack, but unfortunately she is revealed to be dead in the end, devastating Sookie and Lettie Mae. Later on, while high on vampire blood Lettie Me believes she can see Tara's ghost. Jason also mentions a memory of her when he was a child to Violet Mazurski. Later on a memorial service was held at Reverend Daniels church and Sookie comes to comfort Lettie Mae who refuses her comfort, claiming that it's Sookie's fault why Tara keeps on putting herself in danger to protect her. Powers and Abilities Natural abilities Tara, like her cousin Lafayette, has been said to have some magical potential. While conducting an "exorcism", Miss Jeanette drugged Tara with a harmless hallucinogen that made her see a younger version of herself with blacked out eyes. This characteristic is also shown in humans who were under the spell of the Maenad Maryann Forrester. Maryann later stated that even though the exorcism was fake, Tara summoned her. Tara has been shown numerous times to be a skilled fighter. After drunkenly leaving Merlotte's, Tara finds two men and in a fit of anger punches one of them. He falls straight to the ground and as he gets up, Franklin Mott throws him against a car door. He then holds the other man while Tara repeatedly punches him. Later, Tara and Sookie fight and defeat a werewolf in order to escape Russell Edgington's mansion. After finding out that Bill Compton almost drained Sookie dry, Tara kicks him out of a truck and into the sunlight. Tara also used to be a professional cage fighter in New Orleans. In 2009 Tara returns to Bon Temps after hearing her best friend Sookie returned alive. While home, she joined her cousin Lafayette and his boyfriend Jesus Velasquez at a coven meeting. After reanimating a dead bird and getting willingly possessed by Antonia Gavilán de Logroño, coven leader Marnie Stonebrook gave a drunk Tara a vision. This showed her being raped by a vampire. Antonia proceeded to ask Tara to enlist a group of witches to perform a day-walking spell, in which Tara took part. After being trapped in the Moon Goddess Emporium by Marnie, Holly Cleary convinced Tara to cast a spell to free them from the Emporium. The spell was a success, but Marnie caught them and teleported them back inside the shop. Tara is seen bearing a revolver pistol loaded with wooden bullets. She seems to be a skilled marksman, as seen in the graveyard battle when she successfully shoots and kills a speeding Vampire attacking her from behind. Vampire abilities Tara was able to cast spells as a human in Season 4. On Halloween night of 2009 Debbie Pelt entered Sookie’s house with the intent to kill her; as Debbie was about to shoot Tara jumped in the way to save Sookie’s life and in the process was mortally wounded. Moments later Pam appears looking for Eric so Sookie and Lafayette convince her to turn Tara a Vampire in order to save her life. As a vampire Tara has found a family in Pam, Eric, Nora and now Willa as members of Godric’s vampire bloodline. Tara now possesses the normal powers and weaknesses of a vampire. Being immortal Tara will forever retain the appearance and health of a young woman. She has an infinite lifespan and cannot die by natural human causes such as disease or old age. She also has superhuman strength; though she is weaker than most of her elders, Tara has proven to be the same strength as Jessica Hamby, a vampire older than her by almost two years. She also proves to be a superior fighter due to her previous skills as a cage fighter. She was able to hold her own against Jessica and throw her across a room with one hand. Tara can move at a blurring speed. Tara's vision has enhanced. She is able to see things in the dark and with more vibrant colors. Tara healed from the gunshot wound to her head after she was turned, and was able to regenerate her entire skin within minutes after burning it off in the sun parlor. Tara has a high level of self-control for a vampire her age due to her dislike of vampires before being turned. She was able to resist feeding from a helpless girl she found in the woods. Before the roofing opens up to sun light upon her by the hands of Sarah Newlin, Tara drank from Bill. Drinking the blood of Billith bestowed upon her the ability to Daywalk. She was able to daywalk until Warlow's true death. This event rendered all vampires who previously enjoyed daywalking vulnerable to sunlight again. Quotes *'Tara': Don't you feel sorry for yellin' at that snoopy old bitch. She's been stickin' her nose where it don't belong for years.*'Tara': It's been a while since I been attacked by a vampire, and guess what? It still sucks!!*'Tara': I'd like to drag her in a cage and beat her ass good.*'Tara': Listen, you white trash fuck . We're not in high school anymore. So if you let anymore of that racist bullshit fall out of your mouth, I'm gonna rip open your heart and fry it up with some grits and collard greens. Notes *Tara is portrayed by actress Rutina Wesley. While actress Brook Kerr was actually the first choice to portray Tara, she was replaced immediately after the pilot episode.*Tara is the second main character to be turned into a vampire, after Jessica Hamby. (Note: Jessica Hamby was not a main character when she was turned. Tara is the first main character to be turned into a vampire.)*Both Tara and her maker Pam are considered bisexual having sexual relationships with both men and women (and as of now each other).*Although we never actually saw Tara meet the True Death, Rutina Wesley has stated in an interview that Tara is definitely dead and that her death will serve as the catalyst for the rest of the final season. While Pam was not shown to have noticed Tara's death, she has acknowledged sensing her true death in the episode "Fire in the Hole" of season 7 while speaking with Eric after finally discovering where he had been hiding.*Tara is the first of the core original main characters to be killed on the series. Images Appearances